{"id":84619,"date":"2020-10-05T08:07:49","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T08:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.expatinfodesk.com\/?page_id=84619"},"modified":"2023-07-25T08:27:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T08:27:36","slug":"emergency-services","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.expatinfodesk.com\/destinations\/houston\/emergency-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency Services &#8211; Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row type=&#8221;container&#8221; padding_top=&#8221;&#8221; padding_bottom=&#8221;&#8221; el_class=&#8221;three-top-tips&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1599875304748{margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-right-color: #ffffff !important;}&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>911 is the number to call in case of any emergency. When calling 911 for an emergency, you will be asked if you need to speak to the police or to the fire department or ambulance. When choosing police, you will be routed to the nearest department; within the city limits to the HPD and outside the city limits to the Harris County Sheriff\u2019s department. When choosing fire and ambulance, no matter whether you report a fire or medical emergency, you will most likely activate the fire department which will arrive with a fire truck and an ambulance. The ambulance may be owned by the fire department or called in from a local hospital or ambulance service. The reason a fire truck can be dispatched for a medical emergency is that a lot of firefighters are also paramedics or have paramedics in their service. If the paramedics have their own ambulance, it is possible that only an ambulance will arrive. For traffic incidents, several departments may show up depending on location and circumstance. If you have an Internet phone, make sure it supports 911 and that you set up a profile with your current address and update it if you move.Being a city close to the Gulf of Mexico, Houston is at risk of hurricanes. During a hurricane, electricity service can be interrupted for days, and mobile phones needing to be charged and Internet phones depending on PCs won&#8217;t work. For that reason, it is strongly advised to also have a corded landline phone that enables you to have continued phone service to call in emergencies.<strong>Houston Police Department (HPD)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 911 for Emergencies, 713-884-3131 for non-Emergencies,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.houstontx.gov\/police\/index.html\">http:\/\/www.houstontx.gov\/police\/index.html<\/a><br \/>\nPolice officers and the police chief are hired by the City of Houston and have to report to government officials, such as the Mayor of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.expatinfodesk.com\/destinations\/houston\/\">Houston<\/a>. The HPD is responsible for all law enforcement inside the city limits. To report a crime, noise disturbance, gang activity, theft, car accident, etc. you contact the HPD.<strong>Harris Country Sheriff<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 911 for Emergencies, 713-221-6000 for non-Emergencies,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hcso.hctx.net\/\">http:\/\/www.hcso.hctx.net<\/a><br \/>\nThe Houston Country Sheriff is elected by the people in Harris County and serves the citizens of that county. The Sheriff\u2019s office also hires deputies to assist the Sheriff. The Harris County Sheriff\u2019s office has many different departments, such as narcotics, child abuse unit, homicide, and also manages the prison. To report a crime, car accident, etc. outside of the city limits, you contact the Harris County Sheriff\u2019s office.<strong>Harris County Constables<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Precincts 1 \u2013 8:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.co.harris.tx.us\/constable\/contacts.htm\">http:\/\/www.co.harris.tx.us\/constable\/contacts.htm<\/a><br \/>\nConstables, or also called \u201cPeace Officers\u201d, are elected for each of their county departments\/precincts in Harris County and generally have fewer jurisdictions than a sheriff. They serve warrants, patrol neighborhoods, perform traffic control and enforce traffic laws, etc.<strong>Texas State Trooper<\/strong> \u2013 911 for Emergencies<br \/>\nState Troopers report to the Texas Department of Public Safety and enforce traffic laws and regulations, investigate accidents in rural areas, apprehend wanted persons, educate in schools about crime prevention, and also assist local law enforcement if necessary such as emergencies.<strong>Houston Fire Department (HFD)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 911 for Emergencies,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.houstontx.gov\/fire\">http:\/\/www.houstontx.gov\/fire<\/a><br \/>\nThe fire department includes fire trucks, ambulances, safety units, hazardous material handling, rescue boats, and special vehicles such as airport rescue, evacuation boats, etc. Employees may be firefighters or paramedics. There are also many volunteer fire departments outside the Houston City Limits that are activated when calling for an emergency. To report a medical emergency or a fire, you will contact the fire department\/ambulance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243; el_class=&#8221;city-side-bar&#8221;][vc_row_inner el_class=&#8221;sidebar-section-one&#8221;][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Top Tips&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h4|font_size:24|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff&#8221; google_fonts=&#8221;font_family:Open%20Sans%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C600%2C600italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C800%2C800italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal&#8221;][vc_separator color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; type=&#8221;full_width&#8221; thickness=&#8221;1&#8243; up=&#8221;&#8221; down=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<table class=\"table table-condensed sidebar-section-one-table\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"number\">01<\/td>\n<td>Get a car and get a navigation system (GPS) as Houston is an extremely large city, very spread-out and with an often confusing street system.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"number\">02<\/td>\n<td>Check the Houston Chronicle newspaper and the Houston Press paper for happenings and current events in Houston.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=&#8221;sidebar-section-two&#8221;][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Useful links&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h4|font_size:24|text_align:left&#8221; google_fonts=&#8221;font_family:Open%20Sans%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C600%2C600italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C800%2C800italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal&#8221; el_class=&#8221;useful-links&#8221;][vc_separator color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; type=&#8221;full_width&#8221; thickness=&#8221;1&#8243; up=&#8221;&#8221; down=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column_text el_class=&#8221;useful-links&#8221;]<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"http:\/\/www.chron.com\" href=\"http:\/\/www.chron.com\/\">http:\/\/www.chron.com<\/a><br \/>\nWebsite of the local Houston newspaper.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"http:\/\/houston.craigslist.org\" href=\"http:\/\/houston.craigslist.org\/\">http:\/\/houston.craigslist.org<\/a><br \/>\nLocal online classified directory.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"http:\/\/www.wrksolutions.com\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wrksolutions.com\/\">http:\/\/www.wrksolutions.com<\/a><br \/>\nAn online recruitment agency that advertises jobs in the Houston area.<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=&#8221;sidebar-section-three&#8221;][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Interesting fact&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h4|font_size:24|text_align:left|color:%23333333&#8243; google_fonts=&#8221;font_family:Open%20Sans%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C600%2C600italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C800%2C800italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal&#8221;][vc_separator color=&#8221;#eeeeee&#8221; type=&#8221;full_width&#8221; thickness=&#8221;1&#8243; up=&#8221;&#8221; down=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<table class=\"table table-condensed sidebar-section-three-table\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div class=\"fa fa-snowflake-o\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>On an average day, the air pollution levels in Beijing are nearly five times above World Health Organization standards for safety.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=&#8221;container&#8221; padding_top=&#8221;&#8221; padding_bottom=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row type=&#8221;container&#8221; padding_top=&#8221;&#8221; padding_bottom=&#8221;&#8221; el_class=&#8221;three-top-tips&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1599875304748{margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-right-color: #ffffff !important;}&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243;][vc_column_text] 911 is the number to call in case of any emergency. When calling 911 for an emergency, you will be asked if you need to speak to the police or to the fire department or ambulance. When choosing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83991,"parent":83962,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-houston.php","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-84619","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Guide for Expats to Emergency Services in Houston<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A guide for Expats and Global Nomads to the emergency services available in Houston, Texas, USA. 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